Latest Posts

The central dynamic in the Bobby Valentine/Red Sox thing is that ownership wants him and is going to get him and GM Ben Cherington has to get cool with that. To that end, Valentine interviewed with Cherington yesterday. The New York Times has a story about it. My favorite part: Cherington was said in some news…

In an expected move, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com confirms that Ryne Sandberg will remain with the Phillies as manager of their Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley. It was made official when the Phillies announced their player development staff earlier today. Sandberg has been passed over for big-league manager gigs in back-to-back offseasons. While he interviewed…

UPDATE: According to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com, the Orioles and Tae-Hyon Chong have agreed to a contract. Details to come. 6:20 PM: The Orioles are believed to be close to signing 33-year-old right-hander Tae-Hyon Chong, who would be the first player to jump directly from the Korean League to the majors. MyKBO.net believes it will be…

In a meeting that was first reported last week, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times hears that C.J. Wilson will dine with Angels manager Mike Scioscia and general manager Jerry Dipoto tonight in Los Angeles. Dipoto had a three-hour dinner with Wilson’s agent, Bob Garber, last Monday at the general managers’ meetings in Milwaukee, after…

UPDATE II: Via Jeff Wilson, Nathan will earn $7 million in 2012 and 2013 while the contract includes a $9 million club option for 2014 or a $500,000 buyout. UPDATE: Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Nathan is guaranteed $14.5 million over the length of the contract, including the buyout for the…

Jack Wilson is coming off back-to-back terrible years, but that hasn’t expressed multiple teams from expressing interest. According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Mets, Dodgers and Braves are among the “half-dozen teams” who have checked in on the veteran infielder. Wilson, who turns 34 next month, batted .249/.283/.295 with zero homers, 11 RBI and…

The Red Sox let it be known early this evening that Sandy Alomar Jr. was out of the running for their vacant managerial gig but that Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont would get a second interview for the job. Along with Lamont, Bobby Valentine and Torey Lovullo remains candidates for the Red Sox. ESPN Boston’s Gordon…

It should come as no surprise that the lone first-place vote for Michael Young in the AL MVP balloting was cast by a Rangers writer. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News provided a long explanation for his reasoning (or lack thereof). Mostly, it reads like a man trying to convince himself that his hometown…

By trading Ty Wigginton last night the Rockies seemingly increased their odds of keeping Ian Stewart around for 2012, but general manager Dan O’Dowd told Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com that they “always planned on tendering” Stewart a contract. Stewart spent much of this season at Triple-A despite being a 27-year-old with 1,400 career plate appearances…

Justin Verlander‘s deserved MVP nod on Monday ended an 18-year drought in which only position players had been awarded the game’s ultimate single-season honor. No pitcher had won an MVP award since A’s closer Dennis Eckersley in 1992. No starter had won since Boston’s Roger Clemens in 1986. Now that the BBWAA is again showing a willingness…

The owners and the MLBPA are going to reach a memorandum of understanding on the new five-year collective bargaining agreement today, and they’ve announced that there will be a news conference tomorrow afternoon to make the new labor deal public. We know most of the larger components already: blood testing for human growth hormone, an increase…

If the Rangers move Neftali Feliz into the rotation they could simply turn closing duties over to Mike Adams, but T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com writes that another possibility is reuniting with Frank Francisco. Last offseason the Rangers traded Francisco to the Blue Jays for Mike Napoli, which worked out pretty damn well for Texas. According…

You can stuff your “pitchers can’t win the MVP Award” nonsense in a sack, mister, because Justin Verlander just won the 2011 MVP Award. Verlander — the first starting pitcher in 25 years to be named MVP — got 13 of 28 first place votes. He only got 27 of a possible 28 overall votes,…

Mark Buehrle is rumored to be fielding offers from nearly half the teams in baseball and the Nationals are pulling out all the stops, with Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reporting that they’ve made Buehrle “their top free agent choice” and are visiting the left-hander at his home in St. Louis today. According to…

A quick take on the story Craig relayed earlier. I thought the last paragragh of David Villavicencio’s piece on a possible Gio Gonzalez-to-Florida deal was the most interesting one: The source says three different players have been discussed as potential pieces for the deal. All three players played significant time with the Marlins last season. It…

No new news on the killing of Mariners outfielder Greg Halman. A few minutes ago, however, Commissioner Selig issued the following statement: “Today Major League Baseball mourns the passing of Greg Halman, a member of the Seattle Mariners organization since 2004. Greg reached the Major Leagues in each of the last two seasons, hitting his…

Last night the Phillies sent a player to be named later to the Rockies for Ty Wigginton, but general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com that acquiring Wigginton’s right-handed bat “really doesn’t have anything to do with what I may do in the outfield or infield.” In other words, Wigginton won’t stop…

Linked with very little comment because none is really needed, Bill Parker explains how Clint Barmes is Princess Buttercup, Bobby Valentine is Miracle Max, and Dan Shaughnessy is Vizzini from “The Princess Bride.” And to preempt your comments: (1) yes, it’s a slow news day; and (2) no, I can’t help myself when it comes to “Princess Bride”…

Last offseason the Rays signed Johnny Damon and Casey Kotchman to one-year deals and got good value out of both players, but rather than simply let them walk as free agents Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Tribune writes that they “remain interested in” re-signing both hitters. “They are very prominent in our discussions right…

No official announcement has been made yet, but Clint Barmes told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com that his new contract with the Pirates is a two-year, $10.5 million deal. He’s expected to take a physical exam today, at which point it’ll be finalized and he’ll take over as Pittsburgh’s starting shortstop. Barmes explained that he signed…